The increased popularity of golf throughout the world has led to a substantial increase in the need for more golf courses. Additionally, every day, on which a golf course stays open if it would normally be closed, increases the effectiveness and profitability of the course. In the Northern climates, competitiveness to stay open as late in the fall and open as early as possible in the spring is the challenge faced by today's golf course superintendents.
Besides the need to be open early in the spring, the golfers also demand an excellent putting surface right away and throughout the year. As a result of this competition for golfers, courses need to be the best and open at all costs to make the money. In the Southern climates, this is not very difficult, except for rainy days.
The picture changes in the Northern climates, however. Almost all golf courses in the Northern climates close down for the winter. The golf courses then reopen once the courses, and especially the greens, are in condition for the golfers to use without causing injury to themselves or damage to greens.
Traditionally, a golf course uses a composition, generically referred to a top dressing, to cover the putting surface or golf green in an attempt to protect the green during the winter season. Top dressing is usually a mixture of sand with soil or peat, which is placed over the top of the green in order to protect the grass during the winter months. From the years of experience, it becomes clear, that this top dressing composition and method of application do not always protect the turf from winter injury.
For a golf course putting surface or green, grass is visible. Directly below the surface grass is the crown, which is invisible from the green's surface. Directly below the crown are the roots of the grass or putting surface, which roots are also invisible from the green's surface.
A major problem for a golf course putting surface or green is crown hydration. Crown hydration is the number one killer of turf on putting greens during any given winter season. Crown hydration results from the freeze and thaw cycles of winter weather. Almost any cover on a golf green permits water to penetrate through this surface of the golf course green.
As this water penetrates to the green, it comes into contact with the crown. It is common for the water, which has penetrated through the cover and into the green, to re freeze and cause great damage to the crown, and, hence, the root system of the green. Such damage is called crown hydration of the green and causes major problems in getting the green ready to play.
Presently, other protection methods are being used, including; expanded particle products, straw, and lace coated or woven polyethylene. These methods or devices provide somewhat effective methods of protecting greens during the winter.
However, there is a very fine line between protecting and overprotecting a green, especially during midwinter or early spring growth. The present method of the expanded particle blanket often insulates the turf too much on sunny winter days, especially those days where snow cover is lacking, and over stimulates the turf into a falsified sense of spring and the grass starts to grow. Such growth at this time is not acceptable for providing an acceptable green.
Life expectancy for the expanded products is about three years. If used more than the three years, it can easily lead to crown hydration. The expanded products, with their two inches of thickness, create many problems. Such insulating foamed, characteristics make them bulky, hard to store, handle and dispose of when their usefulness is gone.
The lace-coated cover is an effective cover only as long as water does not penetrate therethrough. However, it is lace coated, that is to say that are apertures in the coating, thereby allowing water to penetrate the cover and get to the turf or crown underneath. As previously explained, there are certain problems with allowing the protective cover to breathe during the course of the winter. If the temperature alone warms the snow, it will allow moisture to pass through cover and possibly causing crown hydration to the turf underneath.
Another drawback of early or midwinter growth, is that before the covers are placed over the turf, chemicals are applied to protect against particular turf diseases associated with winter dormancy and spring growth. If early growth occurs, these chemicals are then absorbed into the root too early. This early absorption requires that the covers be removed and the chemicals reapplied. This is a waste of time, chemicals and money.
Also, the protective covers must be easily removed to save labor and time, while still allowing for removal, in order for the golf course to be used during midwinter warm spells. Private courses can charge anywhere from $60.00 to $200.00 and up per round per golfer. Assuming four golfers per round at 30 rounds per day, the income can range from $7,200.00 per day to $24,000.00 and up for every extra day of play in gained revenue by having the turf open for play on warm winter days, instead of closed as is the standard procedure.
Another problem with existing covers is that neither rapid cooling nor rapid warming can be prevented. Yet without this ability, the most undesired crown hydration occurs, usually in a very rapid fashion.
A protective turf cover must have at least five desirable qualities. Firstly, it must protect the turf from excessive moisture gain in the crown area. Secondly, it must protect the turf without over stimulating the turf to make it come out of the dormancy too early in the spring.
Thirdly, a cover must be easily removable if weather warms sufficiently in order to allow play to resume, at a time when the course is not otherwise playable. Large amounts of revenue can be lost in some climates if greens are covered, the weather warms enough to allow play, but too much time and money is needed to remove the green covers to allow play to be resumed.
Fourthly, any cover must last as long as possible. A life expectancy of at least three to more than seven years is a must to cut costs on reorders and old cover disposal. Fifth, the covers must be fabricated from a material, which can be folded and stored into as small as space as possible.